ASIA/PHILIPPINES - Oblate Missionary of Mary Immaculate receives award for outstanding work to promote peace and inter-religious dialogue

Friday, 9 June 2006

Cotabato (Agenzia Fides) - Fr. Eliseo Mercado, an Oblate Missionary of Mary Immaculate has been awarded the prestigious Bukas Palad Prize assigned by the Jesuit University in Manila.
The award in memory of Jesuit Fr Manuel Peypoch was recognition of Fr Mercado’s outstanding work to promote peace and justice especially in the southern Philippines, inter-religious dialogue between Christians and Muslims and to improve the conditions of the poorest and most excluded people.
For many years Fr. Mercado was rector of Notre Dame University in Cotabato where Christians and Muslims study together and build friendships. The university is a point of reference for all young people in Mindanao.
As part of his activity promote good relations with the Muslim community in the Philippines he was advisor to the group in charge of negotiations between the government and Muslim separatist movement Moro Islamic Liberation Front in southern Philippines. His intervention and mediation often settled disputes and solved cases of kidnapping of missionaries.
Fr. Mercado was later appointed head of the OMI Justice and Peace Commission. With regard to peace in southern Philippines he said: “We must work for peace and entrust humanity to the Lord and pray that mankind will put an end to violence, war, destruction and killing”.
Fr. Mercado is the third OMI to receive the award which will be presented in Manila on 25 July. Previous winners were Fr. Gerard Mongeau (in 1980) and Mgr Benjamin de Jesus (posthumous) in 1997. (Agenzia Fides 9/6/2006 righe: 25 parole: 252)


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